Searching the Hotel
by MidnightsNightmares
Summary: Sugar and Crow continue their search together for the things they want to find. They come to the hotel, only to meet a bratty girl, who won't let them pass on through...
1. Chapter 1

"Find anything?" I ask Crow, who was currently in the room next to me, digging through random stuff in the closet and looking under the beds.

"Nope!" Came his reply. "Wait! What's this thing?" I hear Crow pull out something from somewhere, and I stand up from my kneeling position on the floor and walk over to him, examining the item he held up in the air.

The item had a long wooden rod, and a metal circle at the top, done with netting. I smile slightly, taking the thing from his hands.

"This is a butterfly net."

"Butterfly net?" He tilted his head, running a gloved hand over the metal part of the net. "Why would you need a net for butterflies?" Deciding it could be useful, I stuff the net away in my leather pouch. "Well...I know when I was little, I liked to catch butterflies."

"Why would you catch them, though? That sounds mean."

"The way you're putting it, it does! I always released them."

"But if you release them, what's the point of catching them?"

I roll my eyes, running a hand through my hair and sigh. "You ask too many questions. Not everything has to have a point, you know." He rolled his own eyes, laying back on the ground. "Ah, whatever you say. I just thought that was weird."

"Get off the ground, it hasn't been cleaned in years!" I scold. He smirks, reaching out and grabbed my ankle. My eyes widen.

"You wouldn't dare..." I mutter out, only to recieve a playful flash go through his eyes as he pulls a single tug on my ankle. I fall to the ground with a loud _THUD_. I growl once I recover, and glare at him.

"Can you seriously not do that?"

"Aw...you're no fun." He stood up, holding his hand out for me. Though reluctant, I grab it and allow him to pull me upward.

Crow looked me over for a moment, tilting his head in the process. "You look tired."

"I am tired."

"Then we should call it a day! The lobby is the perfect place to set up camp."

I shake my head. "No...thank you. We can keep searching for items." I begin to walk out of the room, planning entirely to end the conversation there when Crow reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder, causing me to stop.

"...You shouldn't push yourself like this. You look terrible. Pale."

"You should really know how to 'sugar coat' things."

He scoffed, placing his other hand on my other shoulder and gave me a gentle push.

"Come on. We're gonna go set up for the night."

"But - "

"No buts! Come on!"

**xxx**

We both sat at a crackling fire. It could be stronger, but for some reason, all the wood from outside was either too damp or too small to be used for a fire. I stare into it, memorized with the flickering flames.

I'm brought to reality when a hot cup nudges my hands. I look upward, seeing that Crow was offering some tea he had just made with his kettle. I smile, taking the cup from his hands. "Thanks." I take a sip of the warm liquid, letting it burn my tongue before swallowing it.

"Say, where'd you even find tea at?" I ask him.

"Earlier, while you were exploring the bottom floor, I was on the top inside the cafeteria. I found it while going through something called...the pantry I think. It had a picture of the thing I wear, so, I thought it might have had some sort of connection."

"How'd you even make the tea?"

"I followed the directions on the pack." He said proudly. I scoff and smile, setting the tea and down and take a deep breath. I feel my eyes flutter close (rather by themselves) and begin to doze off.

Crow nudged me, much to my dismay.

"What?"

"If you're gonna fall asleep, don't do it sitting up!"

I slide the cup of tea towards him, and lie on my back. "Does that please you? Can I sleep now?" "Don't you want something to keep you warm?"

"What the hell were you living in back at the park? How'd you have a blanket?"

"I found it!" He exclaimed a bit too loudly for the dark of night.

"Nice." I mutter, trying to drift off again. I hear the sound of shifting fabric, just before something drapes over me. I open my eyes, only to realize that Crow has laid his overly colorful jacket over me.

"...Have at least something to keep you warm. I feel kinda bad, since you're just in a tank top."

His jacket was actually softer than I had previously thought about. It felt like a kittens fur actually. Though I was hesitant, I slip the jacket on. It swallowed me whole (only because I was so tiny), and my wings pushed it at an awkward angle, but it was comfortable.

"Yeah...thanks..."

I feel like I should have said that I had the fire near me, but Crow was being that side of him where he could be nicer.

Better not question it.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time I was awake again, the sun had long already risen and birds had already stopped their morning songs. I blinked and sat upward, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I stretch my arms over my head, and look around for Crow.

He wasn't here.

I stand up, seeing the teacups we both had still laid out in front of the now smoldering fire.

"Crow?" I call out, my voice echoing through out the empty halls.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

"What're you talking about? I'm right here!" A voice answered back, and instantly, I recognize it to be his. I sigh, "This isn't a game of hide-and-seek, Crow! C'mon, I'll cook breakfast so we can keep searching!"

"Will you make something that doesn't taste old?" He called back.

"That's all there is to cook around this world!"

"Aw...whatever. At least I'm eatin' free!"

Crow jumped to from the second level to the first, sticking the landing with ease. I roll my eyes at him, and begin to pull things out of my leather pouch for me to cook.

**xxx**

"That actually didn't taste half bad." Crow commented, putting his little plate we found in the cafeteria down. I give him a side-glance, finishing whatever I had left as well.

"Should I take that as a compliment? I heard a hint of sarcasm..." I tease. He reaches over, ruffling my hair, much to my annoyance. "Can you not do that?" I ask, grabbing his wrist and moving his hand away.

He chuckled, standing. I stand with him.

"So, what are we gonna do today? Same as usual? 'Cause I think we've turned this hotel upside down..." He commented, "We're scrapin' the bottom of the barrel by now."

"Then let's get everything out of the bottom that we can."

"We've already done that, though." He complained.

"But you just said - "

"Then it's settled!" He cut me off, a big smile on his face. "We'll stay here another night, and tomorrow, we're leaving!" "But Crow - "

"No buts! Let's get searching!"

**xxx**

So, Crow and I went back to searching from his own order. I search the remnants of the unlocked rooms, while he explored the cafeteria a little more. Much to my dismay, I hadn't found very much when it came to items we could use while searching for things.

Two Instant Lunches, three pieces of old candy, and...another butterfly net? Someone liked to catch butterflies, apparently...

I put all the stuff away in my leather pouch, deciding to go check up on how Crow was doing with his scouting. I stomp up the stairs, and walk towards the cafeteria and push the door open. The area was rather big, and the stone tiles for the floor surprisingly weren't that damaged.

"Crow? Where are you at? Any luck?"

"I'm in that pantry again! ...Say, what's a Poptart?"

Going towards where the kitchen was int he cafeteria, I open the door to see him on his knees, holding a colorful box in his hands. With the simple markings of 'Poptart'. I take the box from his hands and look at the box more closely.

The flavor of the 'Poptart' was chocolate. It was the filling, and icing, while the crust of it looked plain.

The box was empty, so, there wasn't any chances of trying one, so I dropped it on the floor.

"Who knows? I've never heard of it...well, now that I think about it, Yoshiya might have mentioned a Poptart before..." I try to ponder this, but I realize it's best if I help him go through the items in the pantry.

"So, find anything else other than Poptarts?" I ask him, and he nods, pulling out what looked to be a few more packs of tea. "Mhm! Found more tea. But, that's about it...this pantry's huge, so, I'm not getting much done quickly."

"That's why I'm here. I just finished up with the rooms downstairs."

"Great! Get to work, then. This hotel is seriously starting to bore me."

**xxx**

While the pantry was huge, it still didn't have much to offer. We've only found two more Instant Lunches, four old sandwich's, and a health kit.

While I think the health kit is misplaced in a pantry, Crow said to just not question it and be glad we found it.

We stand in the lobby now, packing up our stuff and storing them away. Crow and I had already found the exit, and were walking towards it when something strange happened after a glow of light appeared in front of us.

A young girl, no older than ten, floated before us. She was rather pretty, but the sad look in her eyes made me instantly want to pity her.

"I won't let you pass." She said.

"But...we need to pass..." I mutter out, only to have her shake her head. "No. I don't trust you."

"What's trust got to do with anything?" Crow snapped suddenly, and I flick him on the forehead. True, it had nothing to do with passing. But, if gaining her trust meant we could leave...

"Well...what could we do to gain your trust?" I ask.

"...The star. Can you bring me the star in the mall?"

_There's a mall around here? ...Crow must know about it, he's familiar with this area._

Though, when I looked over to Crow, he was scowling. "That's _my_ star..." He muttered under his breath. I reach out, and pat him on the shoulder lightly.

"We'll go get the star." I confirm, and pull Crow along with me when I turn to leave. He's still scowling, and looked none too pleased.

"What's your problem?" I ask him, only to receive a glare.

"We can't give her that star!"

"Why not?"

He pouted, and looked away. "It's _my_ star. Not hers. She's doing this to spite me." I scoff. "It is literally a decoration, Crow." "How do you know it's a decoration?"

"Stars aren't usually found inside of a shopping mall."

He tilted his head, let out a big sigh and nodded. "Right. Fair enough. But it's still my star."

"We'll find you another one."

He eyes me wearily, "You promise?"

I reach down and link our pinkies together, nodding.

"Pinky promise! Now...let's go find a star!"


	3. Chapter 3

Crow apparently really treasured this star. It was hidden deep, in some underground mall like thing. We had taken many twists and turns into different hallways, only to realize we had taken the wrong way.

I accused him once of leading us the wrong way, just so he could keep his precious star, but he promised that he hadn't.

So, with all my trust in him, I let him lead me down another hallway. After a few more fights and twists, we came to an open yet cluttered room. There in the middle sat the shiny, golden star.

I walk over to it and picked it up. It was metal, slightly rusty and maybe a bit depressing if you think about it.

But nevertheless, I nod and tell Crow to come on, much to his dismay. I let him hold the star on the way out. He clutched it tightly in his gloved hands, obviously depressed about the fact it was going.

"Hey, I said we'd find you a new one." I say to him, trying to offer comfort.

"Yeah...but it's not this one."

"But it will be one we'll find together. So...it'll be our little treasure!" At this, Crow seemed to think that over. He smiled. "Our treasure...like a secret treasure...I like the sound of that."

"Can you stop being bratty about the star, then?" I ask him, only to receive a scowl. "Hey, I'm not bratty!"

"Then stop acting like you are." I reply back as we emerge from the underground mall.

We walk back inside the hotel, and ran back to where the girl was. She appeared, waiting. "We got the star." I say, and to my surprise, Crow held out the star to her. She examined it, not even picking it up, and shook her head.

"Liars. It was on top of a tree. You couldn't have gotten it."

"Huh? It...wasn't on any tree..." I mutter, confused.

"Well, it was at first. Then I knocked it over so I could have the star." Crow said proudly. I roll my eyes, watching as the girl shook her head again, and dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Liars."

"Well...what else can we do to gain your trust?" I ask her, and Crow tapped me on the shoulder, scowling. "Don't even try it. She'll probably call us liars again."

"Is there anything?" I ask, and the girl thought this over for a bit. She nodded, "The moon. Can you bring me the moon?"

"Moon?" Crow mutters under his breath, and though I was still confused, I nodded. "Yes, we will bring you the moon."

_Crow must know where this moon is as well. Because...she literally can't mean the moon in the sky, right?_

"We'll be right back." I tell her, running out of the hotel, Crow behind me.

"Got any idea where a moon could be at?" I ask him once we're out of there.

He thought this over, and nodded. "Yeah. In the park, where the pond is. There's a sign, and it has a moon on it...looks like it could easily come off, but I never tried it. Wasn't very interested into trying it."

"Then...let's go get it."

**xxx**

Crow and I arrive at the pond, and he directs me over to the sign. True to his word, it looks as if it would pop right off of there. So, with surprising ease, I put my hand around the moon and get a good grip on it and pull.

Instantly, it came off of there, like the cement it had been bonded with was too old to hold it up anymore. I hold the light weight moon in my hands, "Let's hope this is the moon she wanted." I mutter, spinning on my heel and begin to leave, Crow following close behind.

"What if she meant the moon in the sky?" Crow asked.

"Well then we're screwed, and have to find other means of leaving to the other side of the hotel." I say. He shakes his head, "But...that mean's we'd have to climb over the building, probably."

"Your problem with that is, Mister I-Jump-Over-Roller Coasters?"

"...Good point. So, what's the point of doing this if we can just climb/fly over the building?" He asks me, and I pause myself to ponder this.  
"Well...something tells me that we wouldn't be allowed to leave like that easily. Perhaps she'd just appear up on the roof, put up a barrier, and do the same thing she's doing here..."

"...Good point again." Crow muttered, doing a couple of flips to get ahead of me. I smile at his moves, and walk inside of the door he held open. We approach the area again, and the girl comes back. I hold out the moon for her. "We got the moon."

She looked at the moon, and shook her head.

"Liars. It was cemented. You couldn't have gotten it off of the sign."

"Well...it came off pretty easily." Crow muttered. She began to narrow her eyes, "No, you're liars." Taking a slow, deep breath, I ask. "What can I do to make you believe us?"

"Don't bother, Sugar! We should just go over the building. Like we were talking about before."

"Hush, Crow." I scold, looking at the girl with hopeful eyes. "There must be something else we can do to make you believe us."

"...My ring. Can you bring me my ring?"

"Sure. Where is it?"

Since this is a thing that's hers, I think this might be our chance to make her fully believe us. It's her ring, so...she'd have to accept the fact that when we find her ring, it's hers, right?

...Right?

"Where'd you lose it at?" I ask her. She nodded towards the stair case, "In the cafeteria. I lost it in there."

"Okay. We'll go get it then."

With that said, we set off towards the stair case.

"Did you ever see a ring while in here?" I ask Crow as we open the doors to the cafeteria. He shook his head. "Never explored much. Just lookin' for items, like you said."

"...There could have been items in the cafeteria itself, you know." I mutter only to receive an eye roll from him. "Hey, I think we found enough! Quit complaining, and let's go find that girl's ring so we can get out of here!"

"...Alright. Look over here, I'll look over there." I point him to the right side of the room, and he walks off over there. I walk to the other side of the room, and set off to look for the ring.

**xxx**

"Find it?"

"No."

"...How about now?"  
"No."  
Crow stood up from his crouched position on the floor, dusting his pants off and scowled. "This is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack." "A needle in a hay stack?" I look over to him, raising my eyebrows. "The hell does that mean?"

"Well...it just means this is like finding a tiny piece of something inside something huge."

"...That's weird." I comment, standing up as well.

"There's no point to this. We're not going to find that ring, it's obvious by now. We've turned this cafeteria upside down." I begin to walk towards the door, fuming at the fact we would probably have to climb the building.

"Wait, what's that shiny thing by the door?" Crow shouted out, running towards me and plucked the thing off the floor.

My jaw dropped.

"Is that...?!"

"It's the ring," He stated. "Her ring, to be more exact." I take the ring from his hand, and sigh in relief. I clutch the ring in my hand, nodding.

"Let's go give it to her."

"And hope she believes us." Crow added, skipping out the door and held it for me.

**xxx**

When we present the ring to her, she seemed to lighten up a bit. She took the ring from my hand, examined it, and held it close to her heart.

"Why did you believe what I told you...?"

"Why wouldn't we? I didn't think you'd have a reason to lie to us."

"But why?" She asks, the sad light leaving her eyes. "Because! Well...we want to trust you. Wait...does that sound weird?" I ask Crow, who shrugged in answer. "A little."

"You wanted...to believe me? Hee hee...that sounds like something he'd say..."

She looks to the door she stands next to. "My name is Chiyo. Please, come in." She disappears to where I assume is behind the door. Crow and I take a moment before we open the door, and freeze when we close it behind us and look ahead.

The little girl Chiyo disappeared fully, leaving an old woman in a hotel bed to speak for herself. "Heh...heh heh. You found my ring...that was so sweet of you two..."

"Who's that?" Crow mumbled, tilting his head at the old lady in that curious fashion he could have. I sigh, licking my suddenly dry lips and reply. "That there is the girl...well, not exactly. We're seeing her true, physical form."

"Thank you...thank you so much..." The old woman Chiyo kept muttering. Her little girl form came back, speaking to us for her. "The day shall come...when both of your journeys will end...your greatest adventures will be over and you will make your way home."

Her words sank into us like a weight in water.

"However, your journey will not be complete. The days shall go on for you. One after another they will pass, until you've had enough of the monotony. No new discoveries will await you."

Her words had a bite to them.

Only because they were the truth.

"You'll both watch the sun rise and set. That's all your days will have to offer. That's the moment...you will realize the truth...the sunbeams, the wind rolling over the tall grass...the idle chit chat with friends. These are the gems of your lives."

She looked at the ceiling, and smiled. "Then your hearts will be carried off by the gentle, carressing breeze. And they will sparkle like jewels, fade, then grow cold." She looked at her ring.

"Seeing this ring again...it brings back such a flood of memories for me. I see his smiling face that I loved so much. I see his fingers, long and rough, yet beautiful at the same time. Oh, how I missed this ring...I missed it so much..."

She looked at her physical form, and clutched the ring even harder in her hands. "And yes, I know, I don't have much time left. But for you, there are many tomorrows still awaiting." She stared at us with confidence, and a little envy. "So, you must go on your ways. You must live. Live. Live your lives. Until you breathe your last breaths, live life to the fullest."

Chiyo's physical form speaks now, with a rough and strained tone. "That...over there..."

Crow's eyes search the room, until they lay on something that could be potentially what she's speaking about. "Huh? Somethin' on the nightstand?" Chiyo's child form points to her hair clips.

"This brooch was formed after my hair clips. I saw you two exploring the hotel for items, and I apologize for not having anything of practical use...but I do hope you'll take it along with you."

I pick it up off the nightstand, nodding in thanks to her. "It's really beautiful. Thank you. We'll treasure it." Chiyo's physical form begins to speak again. "Thank you so much, dears...for bringing me my ring...and thank you for believing...what I told you."

Her child form began to fade, but not before speaking.

"Thank you...from the bottom of my heart."

Her physical form didn't speak. I frown, a tear forming at my eye. Crow turned around. "Come on. There's nothing we can do." "But we can't leave her to die on her own..."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Besides, we have to meet our tomorrows, remember?"

The freshly marked words are even fresher when he says them again. He walks out of the room, not saying another word. I wipe the tear at my eye, give her one last side glance, full of pity before walking out of the room slowly.

I leave the door open, though.

**xxx**

"You gonna be okay?" Crow asks me as he packs up the last of our stuff. I was still pretty down about leaving Chiyo in that room by herself, but, I nod. "Yeah. I'll be fine. She was happy, at least."

"We did the right thing in the end." He added, standing up.

"...Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something." Crow says. I look at him, raising my eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What are you going to do when you find Yoshiya? I mean...what're your plans?"

My blood runs cold for a moment at the question, but I regain my senses moments later. "Can't say I know...perhaps...try to make things the way they were before?" "...Does that mean I'll have to leave then?" The question was asked with a bit of a bite to it.

My eyes widen at the question, and it left me in shock.

_Is he...afraid I'll...leave him?_

My throat suddenly felt like a desert. "What? ...How could I leave my best friend, are you nuts?"

"...I was...just...uh, asking."

With a bit of a smile, I add. "Interesting question, then." He smiles himself. "You have the most interesting answers. They're ridiculous, but...that's part of what makes you so cute..." A blush fires up on my face. "C-Cute?"

"I'm just teasing, jeez! Learn to take a joke."

"...Your jokes are weird. You're weird."

"You're weird too!"

I walk towards where Chiyo used to stand guard, and push the double doors open. "Let's get a move on. You didn't find the place in the photo here, did you?" He shakes his head. "Nope. Woulda told ya if I did."

"...Oh. Well...let's move then." I hold the door for him, and he walks through.

I pause when I close the door, looking down at myself. "Hey, you want your jacket back? I've been wearing it the entire day. He looks to me as I shrug it off and hold it out towards him.

He takes it, and slips it back on. "...Anytime you want it, just ask." He commented, beginning to walk ahead.

I take one last long side glance at the hotel.

The things with Chiyo and the things she said...they would stay with me forever.

Because they held every ounce of meaning that a little girl, who was so afraid to trust again, would have to give.

**xxx**

I plan to make this a four part series. I have so much time on my hands right now, so, I might be done by the weekend!

Also, a lot of errors ahoy!

Crow: Maybe you should take the time to look over your writings when you submit them, Sugar.

Sugar: Ah...perhaps. But my hands go faster than my mind, so, it's quite impossible.


End file.
